Addiction
Christians are devoted to the LORD and "have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints" (1Corinthians 16:15). However, America's addictions are shameful disgraces against God. "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people" (Proverbs 14:34). Even the world realizes that gambling is tearing apart the fabric of our society. Just listen to the facts they have gathered against gambling. "America is addicted to gambling and doesn't even know it. Americans are familiar with our nation's other major addictions: narcotics, alcohol, tobacco... But today, the fastest growing addiction in America is unchecked and almost unrecognized. It is gambling." Our country now has multiple millions of adult gamblers, "and, more ominous, millions of teenagers addicted to gambling. But individuals are not the only gambling addicts. State governments themselves have become addicted to the revenues derived from casinos, slot machines, keno and lotto. Thus, instead of warning citizens, many governments are exploiting them. They ignore the social costs brought by state- authorized gambling because they need the cash to balance their budgets or so they believe. They're hooked… Twenty years ago, commercial gambling casinos were prohibited in every state except Nevada. Only 13 states had lotteries. There was no such thing as a Native American casino. Altogether, Americans wagered about $17 billion on legal commercial gambling. Between 1976 and 1988, casinos were legalized in Atlantic City and the number of state lotteries more than doubled. Then, between 1989 and 1994, gambling casinos were legalized in 21 new states and slot or video poker machines were authorized at racetracks and bars in 10 states. All told, Americans wagered nearly $550 billion on legal gambling in 1995 an astonishing 3,200 percent increase in just twenty years… legalized gambling destroys individuals, wrecks families, increases crime, and ultimately costs society far more than the government makes… It is important to understand that gambling addiction is just as real, and its consequences just as tragic, as alcohol or drug addiction." Compulsive gamblers potentially, "lose all the money they have. Then they run up credit card debt. They sell or pawn possessions and plead for loans from family and friends. More than half end up stealing money, often from their employers. The average Gamblers Anonymous patient will have lost all their money and accumulated debts from $35,000 to $92,000 before seeking treatment. Thousands file bankruptcy. Many addicts can't be helped [and] they commit suicide. And when[compulsive] gambling strikes, it rarely affects just one person. Family savings are lost, college education or retirement funds disappear, home mortgages are foreclosed. And under the stress of losing everything, many problem gamblers commit domestic violence and child abuse. Since casinos came to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, domestic violence has increased 69 percent and an estimated 37 percent of all [habitual] gamblers have abused their children.
Researchers now call gambling the fastest growing teenage addiction, with the rate of [compulsive] gambling among high school and college-aged youth about twice that of adults. According to Dr. Howard J. Shaffer, Director of the Harvard Medical School Centre for Addiction Studies, "Today, there are more children experiencing adverse symptoms from gambling than from drugs…and the problem is growing."
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